Lost
by Queen Edmund Pevensie
Summary: [on hiatus] 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks. Week 3: A retelling of a fairy tale. It's supposed to be Hansel and Gretal. Anakin and Ahsoka are left behind on some remote planet after an emergency evacuation. Obi-Wan will come back for them, but not right away. Supposed to be set mid-season three, but who knows.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I imagine this takes place somewhere in season three of The Clone Wars, probably before they updated the models. But tcw is not in chronological order so. Also, it doesn't matter. Have fun.**

* * *

Once again, Obi-Wan Kenobi finds himself in the heat of battle on some hot, dry, Outer Rim world he can't bother to remember the name of, where Anakin and Ahsoka are buzzing excitedly in the Force beside him, and every second brings a barrage of blaster bolts and cannon fire and shrapnel flying towards him. It is all he can do to keep from being hit, and clones are falling and being dragged to safety by their frazzled, tired brothers. If _he_ is having trouble staying focused on the task at hand, to bring down yet another droid factory somewhere else the Separatists thought the Republic would never find it, then he can't imagine how Anakin -who often gets too caught up in the battle to remember the true objective -and Ahsoka -who is after all, fourteen years old -are doing.

Better, apparently, than he is. He sees Anakin out of the corner of his eye, taking down any battle droid in his path, Ahsoka flitting ahead of him with marveling acrobatics. Another enemy cannon fires, destroys what is left of Obi-Wan's defensive line. Anakin and Ahsoka have seen a hole in the enemy's defense. He senses it from Anakin, across a battle field and so many lost friends –a hungry eagerness to get this done, to bring down a factory that's churning out droids faster than he can destroy them. While the enemy is focused on trying to drive Obi-Wan and his men away, off the planet, Anakin and Ahsoka can sneak through. Although, Obi-Wan must admit that their version of sneaking draws a lot more blaster fire than anyone else's. He suspects they've given up stealth in favor of speed.

Anakin tosses a charge to Ahsoka and she catches it gleefully, sprinting and leaping above the heads of shocked battle droids towards the factory the droids are spilling out of, Anakin covering her, destroying any droid who turns their attention away from him and their blaster towards Ahsoka.

The pair, master and apprentice, are a blur among the battle droid, but their movements are so fluid, so acrobatic and precise, and the Force sings between them and around them, guiding them, it's sure and right and heavy the way it always is around Anakin, Obi-Wan has a hard time tearing his eyes away from them, towards the battle. Dodging and leading the clones away from the heavy artillery is become more and more difficult as the battle droids realize that they are walking the line between winning and being destroyed. Obi-Wan searches the Force for the answer, the outcome to this battle, but between the battle and the uncertainty of the future, he cannot tell. It's all he can do to stay alive.

Rex is by his side and he sighs, relieved, the second he and Obi-Wan bring up the rear of the company into relative safety. Blaster fire flies above their head. "He's done it," Rex sighs. His blaster hangs loosely in his hand. Rex is still standing in the open, Obi-Wan behind him in cover. "General Skywalker's about to bring the factory down."

Obi-Wan looks where Rex is facing, sees Anakin and Ahsoka - little more than blurs in the Force –heading down the walls of factory, deflecting blaster bolts and cutting down every droid in their path, and a low rumble in the Force tells Obi-Wan that Rex is right. As soon as Ahsoka touches down beside her master, Anakin turns towards Obi-Wan, though Obi-Wan doubts he can see them, and gives them a thumbs-up before pressing the detonator. The ground shakes. The factory crumbles, crushing the droids that are coming out of it.

Anakin and Ahsoka appear in front of Obi-Wan, out of breath, covered in dirt and rubble and dust, but they look pleased with themselves. Or - well, Ahsoka looks pleased with herself, smug and proud and excited. Anakin's glassy eyed with excitement, freezing in the Force, hair plastered to his forehead with sweat, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and he's not out of breath because he ran from the droid factory to where Obi-Wan and the 501st are hiding for cover, waiting for the gunships.

"Master," Anakin pants, looking everywhere but at Obi-Wan. A cocky, detached grin is stretched thin across his face. Obi-Wan cocks an eyebrow that he is sure is lost on Anakin. "We...well. Okay. We acquired some information when we were inside the factory."

"When were you inside the factory?" Obi-Wan wonders, feigning exasperation. He didn't notice, but he shouldn't be surprised. He doesn't expect an answer either.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Master," Anakin tells him, finally looking at him straight on with laser-focus. Scary laser focus. He doesn't move a muscle. "But. Well. It doesn't matter. We've got..." Anakin breaks eye contact with Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan can feel the air start to move around him again when he does. "Tell him, Snip," Anakin says again, bouncing again.

"We went on a patrol last night," Ahsoka recounts from the beginning. "We discovered a piece of Separatist Intelligence. Not really a piece, but a -"

Before Ahsoka can finish what Obi-Wan is sure was a very clever and revealing one-liner, Anakin interrupts her. If this had been a year ago, or even three months ago, Ahsoka would have been angry with Anakin. Instead, she only rolls her eyes. "A spy, Master. We found a spy, and Ahsoka and I are going after it."

Ahsoka looks up at Obi-Wan for approval. As a Jedi Master on the High Council Obi-Wan has the authority to approve or forbid missions. Obi-Wan also knows that Anakin is not looking for permission. "Anakin," Obi-Wan grumbles. He knows it's fruitless, but he must at least try. "You cannot go after this spy. We are being evacuated."

"What for?" Anakin spits. He turns his attention back to Obi-Wan. His full attention. Obi-Wan sweats, and he knows it's not the heat. "This mission, _my_ mission, was a success. And it will be even more successful when we find the spy that almost turned this into a disaster."

"We have no idea how many droids are on world, Anakin," Obi-Wan reminds him. "This spy is on the planet?"

"Yes, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka answers for Anakin who has gone from bouncing excitedly to bouncing with barely contained rage in a matter of seconds.

"Then, think," Obi-Wan insists, tapping his temple. "There are more Separatist bases on the planet, probably. And we cannot take any more casualties. We must leave and regroup, Anakin. Please, listen to sense."

But Obi-Wan has known Anakin for a long time, and Anakin has very rarely listened either to sense or to him. Especially when he's like this. The battle still racing through his blood, the Force gathered tightly inside of him, sharp and formidable.

"I cannot let this opportunity pass without doing anything," Anakin insists. "The Jedi -" He always says "the Jedi" with such contempt, as if he's not a part of them. "-are always telling me to look at the big picture. So I am. I stop a mole or _whatever_ from feeding the Separatists information about the Republic's military and about the Jedi, then I can save more lives."

"Anakin, you can't -" Obi-Wan starts, but Anakin cuts him off before he can finish, and Obi-Wan doesn't even know what he would have said if he had been allowed to finish.

"You leave without us, if you have to," Anakin demands, turning away from Obi-Wan. "We'll go now, and we'll be back before the gunships get here. Come on, Snips."

Ahsoka, who looks exhausted, shrugs and follows Anakin. "We'll be back, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka promises. "I don't want get stuck on the dustball with only Anakin for company." Anakin is already back out in the open, and Ahsoka bounds after him.

Obi-Wan takes two steps after them, Rex close behind. "Be quick!" he calls needlessly. "And bring the informant back with you! Alive!"

Rex laughs, but it's humorless. "We can't wait for them," he reminds Obi-Wan dully, coldly.

"We'll wait for as long as we can."

* * *

Fighting breaks back out before Anakin and Ahsoka have been gone a half an hour.

(It starts when the droids spot Anakin and Ahsoka. They do not opt for stealth, which is all Obi-Wan can think about, though he has no idea whether the battle droid engaged with his two wayward Padawans. He has no idea if they are okay. If they have reached their destination. If they will be back before the Republic arrives.)

Obi-Wan and the 501st cannot take much more. They are holding up the best they can, though that is all they are doing. They know that if Anakin and Ahsoka are not back before the gunships arrive, then they will have to leave them here. Obi-Wan knows that. He does not know when or if the Republic will break through the blockade but he knows that it can't be long. They called for evac over a standard day ago. It won't be long now.

The battle rages on for hours. Obi-Wan is nervous that Anakin and Ahsoka have not returned. He is nervous that there has been no word from the Republic. But he puts it from his mind. Trusts in the Force.

* * *

Anakin and Ahsoka now opt for stealth. Anakin is still shimmering malevolently in the Force, but he takes a deep breath before facing Ahsoka, and he tries to quiet his mind, but it feels more like watching someone stuff a large violent dog in a kennel that is too small than releasing it to the Force like he's supposed to, to Ahsoka. Like they're taught. "Ready, Snips?" Ahsoka nods. He presses a finger to his lips. Ahsoka nods again.

Anakin takes another deep breath. He clamps down on the Force a little tighter. Opening a first story window, he rolls inside the building silently. Ahsoka follows him. "Where's the rat?" Ahsoka whispers with all the venom Anakin feels. Anakin indicates with his head down the hall and waits for Ahsoka to start towards the room where she feels a shaky presence behind the third door on the left. She steps aside. The door is wooden, on hinges. Old fashioned, like so many of the doors on these backwater, Separatist controlled worlds. The hallway is narrow, not enough room for Anakin and Ahsoka to stand shoulder to shoulder. Anakin nods at Ahsoka as she lets him stand in front of the door.

He kicks the lock. Guess that's all there is for stealth. The door swings open, splintering. Satisfaction leaks out of Anakin and he lets go of the vice-grip he's had on the Force since they spotted the house only twenty minutes ago, barreling into the room. There's the informant. A small wrinkled thing of an old woman. The Force gathers around Anakin like a storm cloud. It gathers around the woman, too, shaking, twitching. "Please," she cries. Ahsoka remembers Obi-Wan's desperate parting words. She touches Anakin's elbow.

The Force falls, slams against the floor. The woman relaxes, relieved. Anakin was holding her still with the Force and Ahsoka hadn't even noticed. Anakin probably hadn't noticed either.

"What?" Anakin snaps. He looks at Ahsoka sharply.

"Master Kenobi said to bring them back alive," Ahsoka reminds him.

"Yeah," Anakin mutters, his hand flitting awkwardly from his lightsaber to Ahsoka for a few seconds longer than normal. Anakin strides forward, picks up the woman by the collar of her shirt. "Are you the one who's selling our secrets to the Separatists?" Anakin asks, the Force pushing against her mind, compelling her to tell the truth. Though Ahsoka is pretty sure Anakin's fists are enough to do the job. His metal hand is pressing into the woman's scaly shoulder. His real one bunched up her in dress.

"Alive, Master," Ahsoka reminds him. Anakin is not paying attention to his hands. The Force is busy prodding away at the woman's mind. His grip loosens a little. Not enough that the woman can move.

"She has the Force," Anakin offers as an explanation.

Ahsoka jumps, searches with the Force where Anakin is searching. Mildly sensitive. Ahsoka's heart races. "Sith?" she whispers.

"No," the woman offers. "Nor Jedi. Like you," she says this to Ahsoka, ignoring Anakin. "Or your friend."

"The Jedi will want to...want to talk to her, Master," Ahsoka reminds him. "Now more than ever."

Anakin ignores her still. "Are you working for Dooku?" The woman does not talk to Anakin. She will not look him in the eye. Instead she trains her eyes on Ahsoka. "Tell me!" Anakin insists, his hands tightening. Her dress rips where he pulls it.

"The Jedi are evil and answer to a corrupt Republic," the woman tells Ahsoka. It's not new information to Ahsoka, the lies the Separatists are spreading. Ahsoka lets the comment roll off of her. Force sensitives abandoned or overlooked or taken advantage of or whatever by the Jedi Order always feel the most strongly about the issue. Anakin hasn't learned to let it go yet.

"The Jedi are good," he says. Insists. "We're doing good. That's what we _do_."

"I can use to the Force to seek out the Jedi and other Force sensitive. It is easy when they are as powerful as your friend," she tells Ahsoka, and Ahsoka cannot deny that. Wherever Anakin goes, there is no mistake. She can feel his Force signature from half-way across Coruscant. On a desolate planet like this, with Anakin still riding the high from the battle, the Force out of control in his hands, she would have known they were coming before Anakin even decided to find her. "It seems that Grievous and Dooku find this type of information useful. Which battles the Jedi will be at, where the more powerful Jedi are being directed." Anakin snarls.

"What do you get out of it?" he presses, letting go of her shoulder to reach for his lightsaber. Unlit, he presses it to her neck. She ignores Anakin. She doesn't even flinch.

Ahsoka snarls too. Anakin's anger is palpable, it fills the room, and the fearlessness of a woman millimeters from death and ignoring Anakin completely is trying Ahsoka's already thin patience. "What's in it for you?" Ahsoka asks.

"The destruction of your Jedi Order," the woman offers simply and Anakin relaxes a little, a little numb, a little angrier. Ahsoka steps between them, pulling Anakin gently backward by his elbow. He detaches himself from the woman, clips his lightsaber back on his belt, turns his back towards them, seething, anger rolling off of him in waves.

Ahsoka shoves the woman roughly towards Anakin and the door. "The Order will be very eager to meet you," Ahsoka snarls. Her lightsaber at the woman's back, placing her in binders, her hand around the woman's shoulders, she shoves her again. "Let's go."

Anakin is out of the building before Ahsoka is even out of the room. When she reaches him, he's staring up at the sky, his face scrunched up like he's trying to decipher the clouds. Ahsoka scuffs his boots on purpose. "What're you lookin' at, Skyguy?" she asks.

Anakin shakes his head. Doesn't offer an explanation. "We have to hurry," he says, and darts ahead of her, doubling back every few paces to make sure she's still following.

"What's the problem, Master?" Ahsoka asks, the fifth time he does it. Anakin shakes his head, and doesn't answer. A second later, Ahsoka hears the gunships entering the atmosphere. Anakin pales, shakes his head. Ahsoka calls to him, but Anakin is running ahead of her, he's too far away to hear. "They'll wait for us, Master. We're not far."

But they are far. Ahsoka knows they are. Anakin is too far to hear her, and so is Obi-Wan and Rex and the Republic. They're stuck here, on this dustball, with a woman whose whole life is devoted to destroying the Jedi, and there's nothing they can do.

* * *

Obi-Wan can't help but be relieved when the gunships arrive. The wounded are loaded on first and Obi-Wan gives them as much cover as he can. Then the rest of the clones divide themselves into the gunships. Twenty of them. Anakin and Ahsoka are nowhere in sight, and there's room enough for two more people to cram aboard. Cody is gesturing to Obi-Wan to come aboard, but Obi-Wan must wait. He must give Anakin enough time.

"There _isn't_ enough time, General," Rex says somberly next to Obi-Wan. "They'll be okay, but we have to go. The wounded...my brothers..." Rex is right (he is rarely wrong). Anakin and Ahsoka can last a few days without Obi-Wan and the rest of the Order. "We'll come back, General," Rex reminds him. "We have to come back to retake the planet. But we can't stay here."

Obi-Wan scans the horizon, and he reaches out with the Force, across his bond with Anakin, but wherever Anakin is, he's too far. He won't make it in time. That's all Obi-Wan can sense. Anakin is an hour away, at least, and he knows it. He feels Anakin, or maybe he imagines Anakin, urging him to go on without him. Obi-Wan boards the gunship with Rex, pressed up shoulder to shoulder. A few clones take off their helmets, running their hands through their sweaty hair. They blink at each other with identical eyes.

"Where's General Skywalker?" one of them asks.

Rex shakes his head. "We had to evacuate without them. They went to follow a lead. They were late."

There's some murmuring in the gunship. Several of the clones want to go back. Adamant that Anakin would never leave a single one of them behind. Obi-Wan thinks that they're right. Anakin would risk all of his soldiers for just one of them.

Rex thinks so too. "They're Jedi, men," Rex says, taking off his own helmet. His blond hair is always startling to Obi-Wan. "They can take care of themselves for a few more rotations while we regroup."

Obi-Wan hopes Rex is right about that too.

* * *

By the time Ahsoka catches up with him, Anakin has already been sitting on the battle field for fifteen minutes. When Anakin arrived, there was nothing there except a few battle droids trying to clean up the mess. No clones, no Jedi, no gunship. Obi-Wan had left without them, and from the amount of battle droids still there -in pieces or otherwise -when Anakin arrived, he couldn't say he blamed him. Anakin made quick work of the remaining droids, and then, the warning in the Force that blared loud enough to keep him alert during battle died away, and he sat, exhausted, in the dirt until Ahsoka came with the witch who wouldn't talk to Anakin.

He's busy tracing his name in the dirt when Ahsoka gets there, teeth bared, lightsaber in the witch's back. He looks up at Ahsoka, but doesn't say anything to her. Ahsoka shoves the witch towards Anakin roughly, and wipes the sweat from her face.

"Did they leave without us?" she asks Anakin needlessly.

Anakin wipes his hands on his robes and looks around like he's surprised. "Yeah, Snips. We're stranded." The witch laughs. Ahsoka kicks her.

"You think they'll come back for us?"

"Of course they'll come back for us," Anakin snaps. The idea of being left on this planet forever is enough to set him off, the idea of Obi-Wan washing his hands of the two of them ("I told them what would happen if they didn't hurry," Anakin imagines Obi-Wan saying) for good sends a rush of ice through his blood -but he knows Obi-Wan will come for them. It's not like they're stranded and no one knows where they are. It's like they missed the bus, and have to wait for the next one. "Don't be stupid," Anakin repeats. "They're coming back for us."

"I mean, like, in the next hour or two," Ahsoka clarifies. "It's getting dark."

Anakin hadn't noticed. He shrugs and lays down in the dirt. They've been here for the better part of a standard month, enough time to know there aren't many people, not many animals, and not many places to acquire shelter in the case of inclement weather. They also know that it gets cold at night. As long as they had supplies, an entire company from the GAR with them, there was no fear of the cold. But camp had been torn down, and Anakin's coat and blankets packed up when they called for evac yesterday. All he had on him now was his lightsaber and maybe a ration bar or two. And the binders, currently around the witch's wrists. Ahsoka, Anakin assumes, is in the same position.

The witch tuts. "Jedi who can't see the future," she cackles. It makes Anakin's hair stands on end. "Imagine that." She laughs again. She laughs and she laughs and she laughs, and the sound of her laughter rattles on inside Anakin's head long after she's stopped laughing, and Anakin can't understand what she's so happy about. She's stuck out here with them too. It will be cold, and it might rain, and would the deaths or two Jedi really bring her that much joy that she would be willing to die too?

Anakin shoots up, stalks towards the witch, hand inches from his lightsaber. "How do you know where the Jedi are going to be?" he demands. Ahsoka watches him carefully. The witch doesn't answer –she hasn't answered him at all, Anakin thinks. Won't even look at him. He clenches his jaw to stop from yelling, his fist to stop from taking his lightsaber and putting it through her heart.

"Hey," Ahsoka snaps at the witch, shoving her again. "You answer my friend or we kill you."

The witch laughs. Anakin's blood boils. "I use the Force."

"You can't..." Anakin says, but he doesn't mean to say it out loud. The witch laughs at him, at what he assumes is a very stupid look on his face, slack jawed, pale, tired. "I mean...no one is that powerful that they can tell where every Jedi in the Galaxy is. That's..." It's like magic, is what it is. And the Force, Anakin knows since it's the only thing holding him upright lately, is a lot of things, but it's not magic.

"It is not a question of power," the witch laughs, now looking at Anakin. Anakin sees her eyes for the first time, and he's startled. They're glassy, swollen, unfocused. She's looking at Anakin –he can feel her looking at him, prodding him with the Force, taking in his prosthetic arm, his height. But she can't seems to see him at all. Anakin tries to block her out, but he's too tired to do much good. Too tired and too angry. "It's a question of focus."

"For all that you hate the Jedi, you sure do sound like a Jedi Master," Anakin snarls, reminded of Yoda in the woman's judgmental laugh and wrinkled face. The woman laughs again, and before Anakin even thinks about it, his lightsaber is in his hand, on, at the witch's throat. "How do you contact Dooku or whoever you contact?" he asks, lightsaber casting a blue shadow across the witch's face. Ahsoka is standing behind the witch still, arms crossed scowling. "Tell me, or die."

"You won't kill me," the witch reminds him. "The Jedi Code forbids it."

"I do lots of things the Code forbids," Anakin tells her. The lightsaber is against her neck, burning her. He can smell it, feel her fear flood the Force. As intoxicating as his own. "Tell me!" The woman laughs and _the sound is earsplitting_ _._

The witch's head is on the ground, still smiling. It didn't stop her laughing, but it made Anakin's headache subside somewhat. He's panting a little, lightsaber already clipped to his belt. Ahsoka rolls her eyes at him, drops the woman's body. "Great," she mutters. "Well, Obi-Wan is gonna be thrilled, Master."

Anakin doesn't have it in him to care.

* * *

 **A/N: This is approximately half of what I have written, for a short-story challenge, which is to write one short story a week. I'm probably a third of the way finished. I'll try to post the next section next week, and then we'll see from there. This may be perpetually unfinished. We will see.**

 **The challenge was for Week Three which is a retelling of a fairy tale. It may not be obvious now, but it's turning out to be a very drawn out retelling of Hansel and Gretal.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Welcome back to Anna's tonally confusing Star Wars Fairy Tale, the next installment in Anna Tries To Do Too Much with Star Wars and her 1k word fic turns into a 10k word fic. When will she learn? Stay Tuned.**

* * *

It's growing darker and colder by the minute, and Anakin and Ahsoka are still just _there_ , a few yards away from the dead body of the Separatist Spy, and Anakin has grown distant. His Force signature is buzzing and cold and erratic, but Ahsoka can't really get a read on what's going on in his head. He's still lying in the dirt, Ahsoka standing over him, both of them watching the sky. Finally, Ahsoka, who is fourteen after all, grows tired and lays down next to him. Anakin, surprised, looks at her.

"Hey, can we get out of here?" Ahsoka wonders. "Find some cover or something, at least? I hate being out in the open, especially when there might be some more Seppies around the corner."

Anakin shrugs and pushes himself up into a sitting position. "We should probably do something with her body," Anakin remarks, gesturing casually to the decapitated woman Ahsoka has reminded Anakin several times Obi-Wan asked for them to bring back alive. She's sure he would be twice as angry that Anakin _executed_ her, but she's not planning on informing him of all the gory details.

They don't do anything fancy, but they burn the body, and wait until it smolders out until they leave. As Anakin is lighting it with whatever he finds in his utility belt that's good for lighting things on fire, he turns to her, his eyes glinting mischievously, which Ahsoka thinks is totally inappropriate. "Any final words, Snips?"

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, but says, "I've never seen Anakin so easily baited before, and Obi-Wan makes it his life's mission. Congratulations." There's a twinge of irritation from Anakin in the Force beside her, but it's not far away like whatever else he's trying to hide from her.

Anakin clears his throat. "You were the creepiest witch I've ever met," Anakin says with certainty. "And I've met a lot of witches."

"She wasn't a witch, Skyguy," Ahsoka reminds him.

Anakin shakes his head, lights the body up. "I've met witches. She was certainly one."

It's already dark by the time they get underway.

* * *

Ahsoka's stomach growls a second before Anakin groans. "We should stop, Snips," he suggests. "I'm hungry."

They have a little tree cover –whatever vegetation manages to grow on the planet grows tall and far a part –which makes Ahsoka feel better about being attacked at any moment. Anakin sits, resting his back against the trunk of a slim wispy tree and gestures for Ahsoka to sit next to him. She does, folding her legs, slipping a protein pack out of her utility belt. She munches on it tiredly. The exhaustion of the day and dealing with Anakin while he comes down from the battle washes over her all at once. She peaks up at Anakin. He's not eating, not moving. If Ahsoka didn't know any better she would think he's meditating, since he's clearly still awake, but Ahsoka does know better. His eyes are closed, his breathing even, his face screwed in concentration. Ahsoka knows that Anakin feels her watching him, but he doesn't move to acknowledge her and doesn't move at all. From the Force there is that cold nothingness that Ahsoka has come to understand as a warning sign from Anakin –a warning that not all is well with her young master and a warning that she should absolutely not ask him about it.

Ahsoka clears her throat, asks him anyway. "You're the one who wanted to stop, Master," Ahsoka reminds him. "Are you gonna eat something?"

Anakin opens his eyes slowly, and stares at her like he's never seen her before. "Oh," he says, surprised. "Nah, I'm okay, Snips."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Ahsoka laughs humorlessly. "That's convincing." Anakin closes his eyes again, pretends that he's sleeping or meditating or whatever, but Ahsoka knows he's doing neither. "Master, seriously. What's the matter?"

"I'm just...I'm trying to conserve our resources," Anakin admits without looking at her. "I don't know how long we'll be here, and we only have so much food. I can go without food for a few days if it means that we can eat later."

Ahsoka stops, her protein pack still in her mouth. "Should I not...?"

Anakin groans. "Everything will be fine, Snips," he promises. "I didn't want to scare you. If you're hungry, you should eat."

"Aren't you hungry? You said you were."

"I'm not," Anakin promises, looking at her in the eye, all the focus in the Galaxy directed right towards her. He shakes his head, leans it against the tree. "I'm not."

* * *

Obi-Wan gets some bad news.

It's once they're through the blockade, and he's speaking with the council over fuzzy comm-channels. Master Yoda is blinking in and out of the picture. Obi-Wan can only hear every other word, but it doesn't take the Force to figure out that Yoda is saying "To Coruscant, return you must. With or without your Padawan."

"I'm worried for him, Masters," Obi-Wan says, in spite himself. He hopes the connection is as fuzzy for the Council on Coruscant as it is for him. "We cannot abandon him."

"We will not abandon Skywalker or Padawan Tano," Master Windu says. "But you must return home before we can allow you to retrieve him."

"A capable knight, young Skywalker is," Yoda reminds Obi-Wan. "Not your duty, anymore, is it to protect him. To the Republic and the Jedi, your duty is."

"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan concedes. "But they will not know when we are coming until we take out the blockade. The Separatists are jamming our communications."

"Take care of that, the rest of the fleet will," Yoda says. "For when you return."

The holograms fizzle out one by one.

Obi-Wan casts out, searching with the Force for Anakin and Ahsoka. They're alive, at least, successful in their mission, if a faint glow of smugness that he can feel from Anakin across their bond even from here is anything to go by. Anakin seems to notice, prods him back with the Force. Seems to try to assure Obi-Wan. _We'll be fine, Master. Don't you trust me?_ A hint of a smirk across an un-severed training bond that does nothing to put Obi-Wan at ease.

* * *

Anakin and Ahsoka sleep fitfully that night, and Anakin is already up when Ahsoka awakes. He casts her a sidelong look as she clips her belt back around her waist, weighs her lightsaber thoughtfully in her hands. Anakin is looking ahead of them, distractedly, but otherwise, not doing much.

"So," Anakin says at last. "Should we keep going or head back?"

"Why can't we stay here?" Ahsoka wonders.

"What's the use? It's not very comfortable here," Anakin reminds her. "I say we keep going. Obi-Wan won't be back to pick us up for at least another week."

"How do you know?"

"Because, Snips, the Force and I…" he offers as an explanation, trailing off like he always does when he talks about the Force. "I outrank you, of course, but if you have a good reason for going back today, then I would like to hear it."

"And risk getting caught by Seppies? No thank you!"

Anakin smiles broadly. "You should eat and then, we'll get going," he decides.

"I'm okay," Ahsoka decides, thinking about the conversation they had last night, about how they know for sure they'll be stuck on this planet indefinitely. "Conserve our rations and all. I can eat later."

"Sounds like a plan," Anakin says. They set out.

* * *

After three days, there's no word from Obi-Wan and no sight of any other living being, sentient or otherwise. There are bugs, flies mostly, that Anakin spends hours swatting at irritably, and the occasional droid every few miles, there's the smoldering remains of someone's home, but other than that, and the trees that don't have more than a few leaves on them, there's nothing but the endless horizon.

"Do you get the feeling we're moving farther away from civilization, rather than towards it?" Ahsoka asks Anakin, on day three. She's tired and hungry, and she's not sure that Anakin has slept or eaten since the day they destroyed the droid factory.

Anakin grunts in reply, swatting at the flies near his face. "Makes sense," he says. "I wouldn't want even loyal Separatists to know I was building a huge kriffin' war factory. And the people on this planet –wherever the _kriff_ they are – are not loyal Separatists."

Ahsoka sighs. "You didn't answer my question." Anakin is a few paces ahead of her, and she feels like she's dragging the entire system behind her just to keep up. "Can we stop for a second? It's not like we're really making any progress."

"Yeah, sure," Anakin says, slowing his pace to a stop, the tension in his shoulders dissolving, and, at last, falling to the ground right where he stands, exhausted. Ahsoka sits next to him, reaches into her utility belt, pulls out a ration bar. It's bland, and three days ago, she would have rather eaten anything else, but she's grateful for it now. Anakin watches her hungrily, but he doesn't say anything, doesn't move except to put his head in his hands.

"Are you all right, Master?" Ahsoka wonders. "I mean…have you been eating and all that?"

"Don't be stupid, Ahsoka," Anakin says from inside his hands. "Of course I've been eating."

"Oh yeah?" she presses. "Then eat something right now."

Anakin lifts his head high enough to scowl at her. "I'm not hungry."

"That's poodoo and you know it," Ahsoka accuses him. Anakin doesn't say anything at all to that. Ahsoka reaches into the Force, across their bond, but Anakin's shields are sealed tight, so except for a slight twinge of annoyance that she's trying to invade his mind, Ahsoka gets nothing, not weariness, not hunger, not worry for her or Obi-Wan he's clearly trying to hide. But she doesn't have to be a Jedi to tell that Anakin is exhausted. "Seriously, Skyguy, what's the point of conserving rations if you're just going to collapse anyway?"

"I can take care of myself, Ahsoka," he growls, a little more than irritation sneaking past his shields.

Ahsoka sighs, breaks her ration bar in half, hands the part she hadn't already chewed to Anakin, who takes it skeptically. "We can share, Master. You need it more than I do."

"I can't…" he protests weakly, nibbling the corner of his half cautiously. "I have to protect you, Snips."

He eats his half, and Ahsoka eats hers. She's still hungry, and Anakin doesn't look much better off, but at least her feet don't hurt as much and a little bit of color has returned to Anakin's face. His shields have loosened a little and he sends a wave of gratitude across their bond, gratitude mixed with weariness, exhaustion down to his very bones.

Neither of them have moved since they sat down. Anakin looks around him with the air of a man who has already made up his mind but feels like he has to do his due diligence anyway. He looks even more tired than he did when they sat down. His eyes are dark, heavy with sleep. "That's far enough for today," he decides, unnecessarily. He's already mostly asleep, sitting up, across from Ahsoka. "Get some sleep."

"You too, Master," Ahsoka presses, though she's pretty sure he doesn't hear her, because he's already asleep.

* * *

Anakin wakes up, the ground hard beneath him, his lips dry and chapped. Every breath hurts to draw, every bone in his body aches. He's hungry like he hasn't been in years. He's no less tired than he was when he fell asleep, and the Force is thick and groggy around him. Next to him, he can feel Ahsoka, luckily as bright and clear as always, breathing steadily. A little hungry, a little thirsty, very tired, but otherwise fine. Sleeping well because she knows Anakin fell asleep and because Obi-Wan isn't going to leave them here.

Well, sure, Obi-Wan wouldn't leave them here, unless something happens to him, or if the Jedi Order thinks this is the best chance they have to get rid of him and Ahsoka. But what if something does happen to him? He thinks he felt Obi-Wan's presence somewhere beyond the blockade before they propelled him into hyperspace back to Coruscant, where, Anakin thinks Obi-Wan was trying to inform him, he would be reassigned before he would be able to come pick Anakin and Ahsoka up. And maybe that's the Jedi Council's round-about way of getting Anakin out of their hair. He's pretty sure they wouldn't abandon a Padawan, not even Ahsoka –or, well, _especially_ not Ahsoka –but, well –Anakin imagines Master Windu's serious face, shaking his head, saying something about regrettable but necessary casualties of war.

Anakin groans. He tries to orient himself to the world with the Force, but it's curling dark and heavy in the spaces between his thoughts, and it's slipping through his fingers, dissipating like smoke where he tries to grasp it. And he's hungry. _Hells_ , he's hungry. He tries to push that thought, feeling, whatever it is, down, focus on the Living force around him, flowing through him and Ahsoka, sound asleep, and whatever life is stubborn enough to exist on this planet, but it's cold and insistent enough that it takes all his will and all the will of the Force to get him to sit up.

Ahsoka gets up almost immediately, looking like she's considerably more rested than Anakin, who can't think through the smog of the Force and his hunger. She's saying something to him, her Force signature bright and even –a little too bright for Anakin to even look right at her, a little too bright for him to be within twenty feet of her without his head pounding right out of his skull –but her voice is far away, or maybe Anakin is, thinking about the last time he ate and coming up blank, and thinking about the last time he was this hungry, which was…well…

He was still on Tatooine the last time he was _this_ hungry. _Ahsoka's right,_ he thinks to himself dully. _You're no good to her like this. Why don't you just eat something?_ He reaches for where he keeps his rations, nodding to whatever Ahsoka says to him, and comes up empty. His heart stops, dread rushing back to him, sends shivers down his spine. He left them, or ate them, or lost them, or someone stole them –it doesn't matter. His rations are gone, and they –Anakin and Ahsoka –are stuck on this planet until the Council does or does not decide to come rescue them, and it's only been three days and Anakin is tired and cold and hungry. And he's trying very hard not to panic because he's the one who got them into this mess in the first place.

" _Master!"_ Ahsoka snaps sharply, prodding him roughly through their Force bond and also with her very real, very cold hand.

Anakin looks at her, fighting through the urge to go back to sleep. "What?" he snaps back.

Ahsoka's lips are twisted into something that looks like a snarl, but Anakin's known her long enough now to know that she's concerned about something. Him, probably. "You're not listening to me," she says needlessly. "And you look awful, frankly." She's sitting across from him, her face scrunched up like she's trying to figure out what to say next. "You look worse, somehow. From last night. I know that half a ration isn't much, but I thought it would help."

Anakin does his best to crack a smile, but it feels wrong, like he's grimacing or maybe scowling. "Whaddya mean, Snips?" he means to say lightly, but he knows it comes out like a growl. "I'm better than ever."

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, stands up and offers him her hand. He takes it, staggers to his feet, sways slightly. "If you live, Obi-Wan is going to kill you," she tells him matter-of-factly, and Anakin is too busy trying not to fall over that he can't even process what she's saying. He's trying to sort it out, trying to figure out what exactly he's done that would warrant that kind of response from Obi-Wan, when Ahsoka's jabbing him through their bond and pressing one of her ration bars into his hand.

He looks at it for a few seconds before he can put together what she wants him to do with it. "Ahsoka," he says at last. Ahsoka looks at him skeptically, like she can't believe he's trying to argue with her. "I can't take this. You need it. You need to…" he can't figure out the next word, how to make her understand that she has to eat, how to make her take it back, especially since her arms are crossed against her chest and Anakin can't focus to see anything with the Force except for how blindingly and distractingly bright she is.

"No," Ahsoka says. "You need it. Master, I'm hungry, but I'm not about to collapse. You need to eat the whole thing and then take it easy." Anakin looks at it, his stomach churns.

"I can't, Ahsoka."

"Fine, don't," Ahsoka concedes. "But we gotta get going." She casts him another wary glance. "Stop me if you feel like you're going to faint or something, Anakin," she says, and starts off, in a direction that is either further from or closer to the battlefield Anakin is not sure, and it takes him a few seconds to get his feet working to follow.

* * *

They are moving really slowly, and slowing down, Ahsoka notices. She also can't help but notice that Anakin still hasn't eaten, stopped, or collapsed, so in spite of his slowing movement, in spite of the fact that Ahsoka can feel the Force, thick like molasses around him, impelling him forward, Ahsoka does not stop either.

They're heading back to where they came from in the hope that by the time they get back there, Obi-Wan will have arrived. She hopes they can make it back in three or four days, but with how much Anakin has slowed down in just the last hour, she's doubtful.

"Can we stop for a second, Snips?" he says weakly, about midday, when they've made so little progress Ahsoka feels like screaming, but she does and Anakin drops, the Force spinning around him.

"When was the last time you ate?" she wonders. "This isn't three days without food, Master."

"I…" Anakin shakes his and closes his eyes. "With the battle. I don't…" he shakes his head again. "Sometime last week," he decides. "I'm fine, Ahsoka. I'm just…tired."

Ahsoka sits down next to him. "Can you eat please?" Ahsoka pleads. "Obi-Wan will be here eventually, but he really will kill you if you die first."

"I'm not going to die, Ahsoka, stop being dramatic."

"You haven't eaten anything in over a week, Master," she reminds him. "You just told me that. Don't worry about rations. It's not like Master Obi-Wan is just gonna strand us here forever."

"I've gone longer without food, Ahsoka," he says in a way that makes Ahsoka's blood run cold. Whenever he talks about his life before the Order, Ahsoka's skin crawls, even if she doesn't know why. Whenever Ahsoka tries to find out more about his past Anakin growls and the Force grows stormy, thunderous, and without even having to say his six favorite words ("I don't wanna talk about it" –a classic, never gets old) Ahsoka knows to back off. "And I can't take your rations, Ahsoka. I just…I can't."

"Fine, but if you faint, I am not carrying you," Ahsoka quips, trying to push the icy dread building beneath her skin away, release it into the Force. Trust the Force and Obi-Wan to get them help before Anakin _heroes_ his way into an early grave.

Anakin nods sleepily. "I need to rest…we can get going in a minute…I need to rest…" His eyes are closed, the Force thinning between them. He's slipping into sleep, still mumbling that he's okay, he needs…just a second, Snips.

Ahsoka sighs. "I saw a stream yesterday," she tells her sleeping master. "I'm going to get water, and then you _will_ drink it." Anakin, who is really asleep, nods a little, still sitting up, his head resting on his arms resting on his knees.

By the time Ahsoka is back with both of their canteens filled, the water purified, Anakin is awake again, looking pale, his hair sweaty and plastered to his face, his eyes bloodshot, his hands buried in his robes like he does when he's nervous, but not looking any _worse_ than he did when he went to sleep. Ahsoka hands him his canteen, which he accepts gratefully without a word. Takes an appreciative and cautious sip. Chugs the rest.

"I feel better," he says after a moment.

"I feel worse," Ahsoka says curtly. Which is true. Her back and legs ache, her exhaustion from the last few days and the battle catching up to her. Anakin may have gone longer than three days without food, but Ahsoka hasn't.

"Here," Anakin says, handing her ration bar back to her. "Really, Ahsoka, I'm okay." She takes it hesitantly, reaches into the Force. He does seem at least as okay as before, if not better. The Force isn't so thick and heavy around him, not as frantic either. And she is hungry. Really hungry.

"Well," Ahsoka says, standing up, much to her joints protest. "We don't have all day." She offers Anakin her hand again, like she did that morning, but he doesn't take it this time. If he sways when he stands, Ahsoka pretends not to notice.

* * *

They've been walking for about an hour when the fatigue starts to set in again and the Force starts to cloud around Anakin. He's keeping an eye on Ahsoka, mostly to make sure he's keeping up and not wandering away from their path. He thinks, somehow, things will be better when they get back to where Obi-Wan ditched them, but unless Obi-Wan is there when they get back, there is absolutely no reason to believe that. Ahsoka, he supposes, hopes that Obi-Wan will be there, and it will cut back time that it takes for the Republic to rescue them, but Anakin can't help but feel like every second they've spent on this planet has been futile. Ahsoka keeps looking back at him, like he might collapse (he might) or he might have just disappeared into the thin air ( _also a possibility_ , he thinks bitterly), but Anakin is always there to grin back at her, even though his limbs feel like they weigh a ton each and his head feels like it might just fly away.

Ahsoka stops suddenly. He barrels into her before he even realizes, and Ahsoka scoffs, placing a hand on his chest to keep him steady, and he pretends like he doesn't notice, but Ahsoka's hand is firm, solid on his body that otherwise feels like it's more part of the atmosphere than anything corporeal.

It takes him a few seconds to get why she stopped, dead in her tracks, and hasn't said a word to him yet. He follows her eyes to see what she sees, and he understands at once the feeling of relief that washed over him the second Ahsoka stopped. It's not Obi-Wan, but for now –this would have to do.

A cottage, different from whatever dilapidated structure they found the witch in, is sitting in the middle of the trail, off to the side, shaded by a few flimsy trees. "Oh, thank Force," Ahsoka mutters quietly enough that Anakin is sure he wasn't meant to hear.

"This wasn't here before," Anakin says dully as Ahsoka starts to move towards it.

"I could have gotten us lost," she mumbles. But Anakin doubts it and follows Ahsoka to the door. "Or we probably just weren't paying attention. I know that's never happened to you before," she snips, shooting Anakin a wicked grin. Anakin manages to roll his eyes. Playing along with her banter makes it easier for the both of them to feel like nothing's wrong.

"We're probably lost," he says in way of reciprocation. Ahsoka grins at him again, a little looser, a little more like she means it. They walks up the path, gray gravel against gray dust, their boots crunching and step up to the door. Ahsoka takes a deep breath and knocks, and then steps back so her shoulder is digging into Anakin's chest. She feels nervous, alert, but her discomfort is the only sense he's getting from the Force. He wonders what Ahsoka senses that he can't.

Before he can ask, the door swings open and an old woman blinks at them for a few moments before she smiles. "What can I do for you two?" in the warmest voice Anakin has heard in a long time. It washes over him, her friendliness, her willingness to help.

"Um," Ahsoka stammers, as taken aback as Anakin. "We…" Ahsoka clears her throat. "I'm Commander Ahsoka Tano and this –" She gestures to Anakin dully. "–is General Anakin Skywalker with the Grand Army of the Republic. We don't…we're not here to cause any problems. We've just been stranded here. And we're looking for any place to buy food, supplies. A way to contact our friends. If you could just point us in that direction, we'll be out of your way in no time."

The old woman smiles again, her eyes hidden in the wrinkles of her old face. "Oh," she sighs. "I'm afraid that there's no one else around for a long way. Almost the other side of the planet. Anyone in this hemisphere has been driven away by the droids." The woman pauses and looks over them again. "But your friend looks like he's about to collapse," she observes, looking pointedly past Ahsoka to Anakin in a way that puts him at ease; this woman doesn't mean them any harm. She just wants to help. "Why don't you come it, rest?" Ahsoka tenses, her bony shoulders rigid against Anakin's chest. But the idea of rest leaves nothing but the image of a warm bed, or at least anything better than the dusty ground, to lay on for a second, no threat of droids, and a chance to clear his head –reset so he can do his job and look out for Ahsoka like he's supposed to do.

"Come on, Snips," Anakin says weakly, and Ahsoka turns around so fast that she whips him in the face with her lekku and Padawan beads. She looks at him sharply for a second before turning back to face the old woman, who's standing, smiling, perfectly innocent, in her doorway, and Anakin thinks that Ahsoka is being very rude, and, frankly, impractical. He wonders, again, if there's something in the Force that he's blind to. "She's being kind. Just…" He sighs. It's taking all he's got to stay upright. All he's got, and also, the support of Ahsoka's shoulder and her bright presence in the Force. "Just a second." He's not begging, but he's pretty close to it.

"Okay," Ahsoka concedes. She dips her head awkwardly out of habit to the woman. Not enough for anyone but Anakin to notice. "Just for a minute."

The old woman leads them inside, and Anakin follows Ahsoka into a front room. It's larger than he expected, and off to either side are rooms –a kitchen and a living room. The old woman motions for them to sit in the living room, and Anakin and Ahsoka sink into plush armchairs, opposite each other. The cushions are musty and cough up dust when they sit. The old woman smiles. "I don't have company often. Make yourselves comfortable. I'll be right back."

Anakin's not paying attention to her, except to how warm and comfortable the room is. How the woman's voice is soft and even. There's a painting hanging over the doorway, abstract, or at least, abstract enough that Anakin is mesmerized by its swirling patterns and colors. But when the woman says this, Ahsoka, who had been starting to drift comfortably into sleep a moment before, snaps back into alertness, startling Anakin.

"To do what?" she asks, cautiously.

"You two look hungry. I thought I'd bring you something to eat." Something in Ahsoka buzzes suspiciously, but she looks at Anakin, who is reminded immediately how hungry he is. So hungry he forgot, so hungry he thinks he could eat his own left hand or throw up or both. So hungry that even if he wanted to leave –and why would he, someplace warm and comfortable and safe?–he doesn't think he has the energy to stand back up.

"We can pay you," Ahsoka offers. "We don't mean to impose."

"I wouldn't think of it," the woman offers. "You are here to liberate our planet. It is the least I can do."

Anakin nods, though Ahsoka seems strangely insistent. But the woman leaves again, and Ahsoka sinks back into the cushions, watching Anakin warily, before she closes her eyes. Once Ahsoka is asleep, her presence calm, dimmer, less suspicious of their situation, Anakin lets the warmth of house wash over him and has the first restful sleep he's had since they landed on this planet.

* * *

 **A/N: This is just about the end of what I have written, so whatever is next will probably not come for another month, or so, because I hope to do some work after midterms. which. who knows when I'll actually have the time. Anyway, I'm actually really excited for this to come together so I hope you will stick around, because it's getting published anyway.**


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